Update 3/3/19: Just a friendly reminder to book before these changes go into effect. Reddit user gordie44 also points out that bookings made before March 5th, 2019 seem to have a cancellation policy where you must cancel before March 4th, 2019 rather than 30 days prior to the stay. Not sure if this is affecting all properties, or just select properties.
Marriott has announced changes to award categories for 2019. These changes will go into effect on March 5th, 2019. The full list of changes can be found here (courtesy of View From The Wing). Keep in mind Marriott on March 5th some properties will fall under the new category 8 price as well, so this is really a double devaluation. Some statistics about the changes:
- 383 properties will be changing category:
- 346 will increase in price
- 37 will decrease in price
- 71 properties will be going from category 5 to category 6. This means they will no longer be usable for annual free night certificates. In comparison only 3 properties are going from category 6 to 5.
- 22 properties will be going from category 6 to category 7. This means they will no longer be usable for annual free night certificates on premium cards.
Keep in mind Marriott has a third devaluation planned for this year with the introduction of off-peak and peak pricing. Given the difficulties Marriott has been having with the SPG merger I’m actually surprised we are seeing a devaluation this bad, although that might be because the C-Suite team fails to recognize large scale problems still affecting loyalty members and prefers to blame it on noise around the edges.
